Pascali s Island (1988)

July 22, 1988

Review/Film;
Caught in a Psychological Pas de Trois

By CARYN JAMES

Published: July 22, 1988

LEAD: The mannered style of ''Pascali's Island'' perfectly suits its tale of political and emotional intrigue hiding behind a crumbling facade of stability. On a Greek island in 1908, in the fading years of the Ottoman Empire, Greek rebels, Turkish spies and foreign mercenaries mingle in shady hotel bars and winding streets overlooking the sea.

The mannered style of ''Pascali's Island'' perfectly suits its tale of political and emotional intrigue hiding behind a crumbling facade of stability. On a Greek island in 1908, in the fading years of the Ottoman Empire, Greek rebels, Turkish spies and foreign mercenaries mingle in shady hotel bars and winding streets overlooking the sea. Basil Pascali (Ben Kingsley) has been sending unanswered espionage reports to the sultan for 20 years. Anthony Bowles (Charles Dance) is a British archeologist whose purpose in visiting the island is mysterious and suspect. And Lydia Neuman (Helen Mirren) is a bohemian-looking Viennese painter, a woman of a certain age who attracts the two men.

''Pascali's Island,'' written and directed by James Dearden, who wrote the script for ''Fatal Attraction,'' is an ambitious attempt to explore the psychological dance these three engage in. But the film is as cooly cerebral as ''Fatal Attraction'' was overheated. That coolness extends to its very heart, which is meant to be full of passion. Slow and stately, ''Pascali's Island'' never gets beneath its own superficial gentility.

When Bowles arrives on the island, the tall, blond visitor is a handsome contrast to the balding, rather squat Pascali, who introduces himself to the Englishman with the prideful obseqiousness of a Uriah Heep: ''I am a well-known figure on the island.'' Bowles hires Pascali to be his interpreter; Pascali sneaks into Bowles's hotel room and learns the archeologist may be a fraud.

A complicated plot unravels -Bowles leases some land from the local pasha, and a series of double- and triple-crosses begins - but this seems much less important than the acting of the three principals. Mr. Kingsley never gives indecisive performances, but this strong one illustrates everything that is wrong with the film. He bugs his eyes; he casts a mournful look when he sees a glance of attraction pass between Bowles and Lydia. It is a performance that points outward instead of in, that telegraphs its messages instead of convincing us that Pascali is lonely and disappointed.

The fault is not with the actors. Their perfectly matched, painstaking performances seem just what the director ordered. Everything is posed and practiced, from the unlikely angle at which Ms. Mirren's robe falls when she lies in bed with Mr. Dance to the deliberate way she peels a pear.

The dialogue, from start to finish, is either empty or obvious, in ways that reveal nothing new about the speakers. ''I no longer know what I am,'' says Pascali, announcing rather than exploring the blatant theme of confused cultural identities. ''This island, it's all coming to an end,'' Lydia warns him. ''You must go.'' He answers quietly, long after she is out of earshot, and with the most pathetic look of self-pity on his face, ''I have nowhere to go.'' Maybe it is daring to create a self-pitying hero we don't much like, but it can't be intentional that we believe so little in Pascali's emotions.

Even the look of the film pushes viewers away. Many of the sunny exteriors are shot in yellow-tinged shadows. These scenes are sometimes juxtaposed with blinding, bright views of the sea and pretentious orange suns. And the film's violent climax, in which betrayals lead to death, begins to approach the melodrama of ''Fatal Attraction.''

Mr. Dearden is clearly capable of creating the psychological undercurrent he aims for and so badly misses in ''Pascali's Island'' (based on Barry Unsworth's epistolary novel, containing Pascali's letters to the sultan). He succeeded beautifully in ''Diversion,'' his 42-minute film on which ''Fatal Attraction'' was based, a tale of adultery in which the only violence is emotional. ''Pascali's Island,'' which opens today at Cinema 1, announces Mr. Dearden as a serious film maker. But as with Pascali's identity crisis, the announcement is no substitute for convincing evidence.

''Pascali's Island'' is rated PG-13 (''Special Parental Guidance for Those Younger Than 13''). There is a flash of partial nudity and some violent deaths.
COOL AT HEART - PASCALI'S ISLAND, directed and written by James Dearden, based on the novel by Barry Unsworth; director of photography, Roger Deakins; edited by Edward Marnier; music by Loek Dikker; production designer, Andrew Mollo; produced by Eric Fellner; released by Avenue Pictures. At Cinema 1, Third Avenue and 60th Street. Running time: 101 minutes. This film is rated PG-13.
Basil Pascali...Ben Kingsley
Anthony Bowles...Charles Dance trc01 Lydia Neuman...Helen Mirren
Izzet Effendi...Stefan Gryff
Herr Gesing...George Murcell
The Pasha...Nadim Sawalha